Batman Artist Turns to Crowdfunding for Health Care Costs

Batman’s faced plenty of tough foes in the course of his career, but there’s one nemesis still awaiting Bruce Wayne a few years down the road: long-term care costs.

A portrait Illustration of comics artist Norman Breyfogle by colleague Michael Netzer for his Portraits of the Creators Sketchbook (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Just ask Norm Breyfogle, a well-known comic book artist most famous for his work with “The Caped Crusader.” The New York Timesrecently recounted Breyfogle’s struggle to manage his health care budget after suffering an unexpected stroke. Not only were the costs staggering but he also lost his primary source of income, as his drawing hand had been rendered useless.

At just 54 years old, Breyfogle found himself in a nursing home, partly incapacitated, and facing months of physical therapy and a mountain of bills. Oh, and did we mention he didn’t have health insurance?

Of course, Bruce Wayne wouldn’t have it quite so hard. His billions of dollars and countless assets could kick in and save the day. But most people don’t have that kind of empire. What are they to do?

After years of coloring inside the lines, Breyfogle decided to think outside the box to solve his crisis. He turned to crowdfunding, a fast-rising solution to many people’s struggles.

Patients can post donation requests on popular crowdfunding websites, set a goal amount, and then collect donations from benevolent and oft-anonymous strangers. Breyfogle’s goal was $200,000. He collected $20,000 in the first day alone.

Of course, not everyone has Breyfogle’s fame or the spotlight of The New York Times. And as more people post requests on crowdfunding sites, there will be fewer donations to go around. But for now, at least, it’s a potentially effective alternative for people who find themselves in a bind.

Long-term care planning is another alternative, but it requires being proactive. The sooner you put a plan in place, the sooner your health care fund can start to grow. Long-term care planning is one of the services we offer at Medina Law Group.

Ideally, you’ll never need to depend on the kindness of strangers. But it’s nice to know that heroes can be found anywhere — even online.